McMillan: Army's Glenn humble despite gymnastics success

WEST POINT — The best way to describe Jesse Glenn is he's graceful on the gymnastics floor but not so much off of it.

Ken McMillan

WEST POINT — The best way to describe Jesse Glenn is he's graceful on the gymnastics floor but not so much off of it.

"It's kind of common knowledge that I am pretty clumsy," Glenn admits with a sheepish smile. His West Point roommate makes fun of him all the time because Glenn is always stubbing a toe or walking into a door.

His parents certainly took notice when he was a small boy, so they enrolled him in gymnastics, hoping he would find some sense of coordination — at worst, he was going to learn to tumble properly if he continued to fall down.

Glenn discovered much more than that through gymnastics — he found a successful path for living.

"What I have learned so far, and I am only 19, but to me gymnastics is a little taste of life," Glenn said. "You have troubles and trials. Sometimes you succeed, sometimes you don't, and you learn from it."

Glenn certainly has had his share of success. He's represented the United States six times on the junior national team, and has competed in Brazil, Singapore and China. He is driven by his dream to eventually become an Olympian, but you would hardly be able to tell by his humble demeanor.

"Why would I try to put myself on a pedestal?" he asks. "Ultimately, I can't take the credit for it. God gave me the talent and I am doing the best I can with it right now."

The path of least resistance is hardly the way of any gymnast, which is probably what made going to West Point so desirable for Glenn, who has yearned to become a military officer. There were college coaches who actively tried to dissuade him from choosing the U.S. Military Academy. There's no way you can endure the rigors of West Point and still make progress in gymnastics, they said. Glenn gave it some thought and decided to embrace the challenges.

"Of course it would be easier to do this at another school," Glenn said, "but the thing is, a bunch of people were telling me, 'This is what builds you, this is what makes you better.' If you can pull it off, it is that much more than accomplishment than doing what everyone else is doing."

That decision alone has earned him the respect of his teammates.

"It's hard to get that level of athlete to come to West Point, who really want to be part of this program and part of the whole military life," said team captain Ikaika Jakub, "because a lot of them have other priorities in mind and go to other schools like Michigan State. It says a lot about Jesse's character and what he wants to accomplish in life, that he brought his gymnastics here to West Point."

Besides, becoming an officer and doing well in school has become more of a priority for Glenn.

"Whether or not I reach any goals or anything in gymnastics is kind of irrelevant," he said. "It is kind of a point that I get to go to a military academy and strive to do as best as I can and do the best that I can in gymnastics."

And he is good.

"He has everything it takes," said Army coach Doug Van Everen. "He's strong, he's powerful, he's fast and he's really elegant. The guy is so clean as a gymnast, he's really refined."

Several hundred fans at Christl Arena got their first close-up look at Glenn Friday on the opening night of the West Point Open. Wherever Army was competing on the gym floor, the eyes were sure to follow. With loud encouragement from his teammates, Glenn attacked each apparatus with determination, flowing from one challenging element to another. The night was hardly perfect, with a couple of form breaks on pommel horse and a few flawed dismounts, but Glenn was far superior to most of his colleagues.

"You don't have to know anything about the sport at all," Van Everen said, "and anybody could just pick that kid out of anywhere on any event because he is just so much better than anyone else."

The results bore that out. Glenn became the first Army gymnast to capture the all-around at the West Point Open with a score of 85.95 points, about four full points ahead of the field.

Team captain Jakub is nearing the end of both his gymnastics and West Point careers and he has learned to appreciate the special moments of his senior year, and that includes watching Jesse Glenn compete.

"Sometimes I just watch and say, 'Wow, I wish I had three more years to work next to him so I could get to that level as well,'" Jakub said. "It has been great watching him compete."

Jakub shook hands with a reporter and returned back to practice just as Glenn made his way to the gym floor for more work. On cue, Glenn stumbled over the vaulting runway mat. He dipped his head, and a couple of teammates stopped and had to laugh.